COTTON PICKIN'

In its heyday, the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill was a bustling operation. More than 2,600 people reported to work in the 11-building complex, which towered over Cabbagetown and Oakland Cemetery near downtown.

Daily, nearby residents set their clocks and schedules by the piercing sound of the mill's steam whistle at 7 a.m. But for the last 14 years, the sprawling structure has been mostly silent and empty, crumbling from neglect and the effects of the elements.

"It's like a lot of things," said G.E. Watson, who has spent the last 48 years working for the mill and then protecting it. "It done got old and past its time."

Maybe not. Winter Properties plans to buy the 12.5-acre site, which it hopes to restore to loft apartments and art studios. Finalizing the purchase from CSX Corp. would be contingent on Winter getting the financing it needs and a green light from engineers.

Louis Brown, Winter Properties' president, said it will be the most challenging project undertaken by his company, whose credits include the restoration of the 1900s Atlanta Buggy Co. and Block Candy Co. buildings on Means Street.

Brown said his company's engineers will spend the next several months going through the buildings to determine how many can be saved.

"The buildings are in such disrepair, we really don't know," Brown said.

George Edwards, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, said it will cost millions of dollars to restore the mill, but that there is a ready market for the type of loft housing and office space Winter plans.

Edwards, whose group worked with Winter on its Means Street projects, said the company will have to use a mix of city, state and federal tax credits and abatements, as well as bank loans to finance the project.

Winter Properties already has won the support of Cabbagetown and the four neighboring communities-Reynoldstown, Grant Park, Inman Park and Candler Park-that make up the Mill Readaptive Reuse Committee, launched to save the mill from demolition.

"They came to the community first and asked us what we wanted," said Dan Bogdan, who chairs that committee.

Still, Brown said he doesn't want to raise the hopes of communities and then have them dashed. "Their hopes have been raised and lowered, and I just don't want them to be jerked around," he said.